I used to pay for Hulu live tv but decided I wasn't getting enough out of it and bought a Roku instead. Now that I have it with free apps like PBS, crackle, freevee, tubi, Plex, Pluto, xumo, and a few others plus a few paid subscriptions like peacock, paramount, and basic Hulu, I have more content than I know what to do with for a fraction of what I was paying for live tv ($85/month in addition to my internet bill). It wouldn't be possible without very fast and reliable Internet however.
All great points. I don't know anything about Australian laws but am a regional planner in the US. I was just referring to a very common thing here where a large rotting building, like the very common dead malls littering our suburban landscape, are owned by private firms with no interest in fixing them up. They're just a tax haven or something for them to borrow against and a blight on the community.
Many local governments with enough means and public support will spend public funds to buy the dead mall to demolish it themselves, and lease or sell the land to a private developer who does what the public body wants, with the goal of increasing the tax base where they were otherwise not collecting many taxes and developing the type of building/use they see as the best fit for the site. Usually there's some sort of public benefit in exchange for the developer getting the land at a good price with the blighted building removed like parking or park space. Public money is lost up front but hopefully retained over time. But I work in a very rural and disadvantaged area so have not been directly involved in such a project.
Ultimately I think the sock thing is a great example of what US new urbanists call "guerilla urbanism" and hopefully it moves the needle in some way.
The council is the petition's intended audience, not the building owner. The council has invested money to improve the area before so there's a chance the increased public pressure makes a real difference behind the dais. They could end up helping the owner demolish the building or offload it to someone who wants to fix it up, without losing private money, for the purpose of benefiting the public.
I'm glad your dog is ok and the neighbor seemed to learn their lesson. Too bad it had to happen like that. When OP said "in other countries" dangerous animals attack cats I immediately thought of dogs as a threat to cats anywhere. We are in the US in an urban area and there are also owls, hawks, tics, poisonous snake, all which pose a potential threat to outdoor cats.
Same. It just says 429 for me. I can't believe it's really gone!